IN A WEEK that saw Rhys Palmer play his first league game for the season and Steven Dodd continue an impressive run of form, it was lightly-built recruit Jesse Crichton who provided the WAFL highlight of the round for Fremantle.

The young Tasmanian, Fremantle's fourth pick at the 2009 NAB AFL Draft (No.48 overall), has proven a tenacious midfielder or small defender in the WAFL.

But after an impressive shutdown role on Claremont's Ian Richardson in round one, Fremantle wanted to see the 18-year-old win more of the football when his side, Peel Thunder, was attacking.

He responded with 23 possessions in the third round of the state competition and senior development coach Simon Lloyd said the quick turnaround in his mindset was very pleasing.

"His defensive aspects early were great, but we wanted him to get more of the ball," Lloyd said.

"The whole three phases of footy - we have it, they have it and it's in dispute - he was very good when they had it defensively, but when we had it we wanted him to be more involved.

"That's the one aspect of his game that he's really addressed over the last two weeks, which is a real positive for us, because I thought that it would take him a little bit longer."

Lloyd said Crichton, an AIS-AFL Academy graduate, had been training well and was playing with confidence, however the club needed to continue putting size on his 72kg frame before he pushed for senior selection.

Dylan Roberton was recognised as Fremantle's WAFL player of the round, after his efforts on West Perth small forward Anton Saylor, while Palmer has been getting better each week.

Lloyd said Palmer, who is returning from a knee reconstruction, needed to play a number of WAFL league games before he returned to the highest level.

"That's just to be fair on the individual," Lloyd said.

"League level is where he will iron out some of his kinks, but the step up from league to AFL is huge. We want him to continually adjust to the tempo.

"Several weeks of solid league footy before he steps up would give him a good look-in."

With Claremont out of action in round three, Byron Schammer was put through some gruelling match conditioning on Easter Monday, while Nat Fyfe travelled to Melbourne with the side that beat Essendon.

Lloyd said the exciting forward was involved in all team meetings and enjoyed his first AFL match at the MCG, a one-point thriller between Collingwood and Melbourne.

Kepler Bradley also travelled and was out of WAFL action.

Ahead of this week's fixtures, Lloyd shared his WAFL notes with fremantlefc.com.au.

West Perth 14.13 (97) d East Perth 11.14 (80)
Hamish Shepheard
A game of two halves for Shep. He had a really good first half and an average second half. His first half he attacked the contest hard, kicked a couple of goals, constantly led up and presented and took some good marks. His forward pressure was pretty good, but in the second half his work rate dropped away. His match fitness will improve in the coming weeks.

Zac Clarke
Zac's continually getting better as the weeks progress. He played ruck and rested forward, winning his position. He worked very hard to the contests, spread very well and worked hard defensively at times. When he does go forward we'd like him to have a bit more of an impact.

Dylan Roberton
A very good game playing back on quick West Perth small forward Anton Saylor. Dylan did a very good job defensively and showed great desperation, at one stage preventing a certain goal by running Saylor down from behind. He showed us he can play on all sizes. He ran off his opponent and had a number of rebound 50s. We were very pleased.

Subiaco 12.5 (77) d Perth 5.9 (39)
Justin Bollenhagen (reserves)
Justin is very coachable and we are working on developing his entire game. Over time he will build his endurance, work rate and size, but we're also working on him working both ways - offensively and defensively. He looks a real talent when he's got the football in his hands.

Joel Houghton (reserves)
Had a good game and showed improvements from last week. His work rate was good all day and he took some excellent contested marks. He showed leadership and structure in the forward line, was switched on defensively and good at ground level. Very pleased with his game.

East Fremantle 14.19 (103) d Peel 15.11 (101)
Ben Bucovaz
He makes some very good decisions when he has the football and he did lay some good tackles around stoppages. He's shown excellent timing with his leads and is working on his defensive pressure.

Steven Dodd
A very positive game, continuing on from last week, with 29 possessions and eight marks. His first half he played on the wing before moving to centre half-back. He was one of his team's best in the second half, really leading the way as East Freo came back. He ran strongly and carried the ball, having six inside 50s.

Rhys Palmer
Rhys played his first league game for the season in the midfield and forward pocket. He had someone running with him and finished up one of East Freo's better players. He was hard at the contest and won a lot of contested football. His work rate was very good all day and the signs are good.

Jesse Crichton
He played back pocket and half-back for the first three quarters and went to the wing for the last quarter. We don't think he came off the ground for the entire game, so I think he would have slept very well. He had excellent composure, used the ball very well and often created the overlap at the right times. He defended well for the majority of the game.

Brock O’Brien (reserves)
Where Brock's at at the moment, he's trying to get a lot of conditioning in and build his body back up for the rigours of AFL football. He played 40 minutes mostly at half-forward. At some stage in the next two weeks we want to move him up the ground.

Chris Hall (reserves)
Played most of the game onball with stints at half-forward and was among his team's best with 29 disposals and two goals. We're hoping he'll play league this week. He was very good in the contested situations and very clean with his hands. He used the ball very effectively.

Swan Districts 18.15 (123) d South Fremantle 12.9 (81)
Ryan Murphy
Started in the forward line for South Fremantle and pushed up the ground for periods, but not very often. He started the game well. We want him to be more actively involved in games and focus on his forward 50 pressure, which he's working on very hard.

Michael Walters
Played in a number of roles for Swan Districts - wing, half-forward, forward and onball. He looked very sharp and full of run and used the ball very well, as he always does. He won some good contested ball in an all-round good game and has been finishing with plenty of run.

Clancee Pearce
Played a number of roles - half-back, half-forward and also on the wing. He started well off half-back and attacked and looked constantly dangerous using the ball very well. He ran a number of players down, causing turnovers.

Casey Sibosado (reserves)
Casey started well early and ran off his opponent on a couple of occasions. He positioned well in front of his opponent, but we still need to work on his positioning and contested marking. We're going to stick with him in defence.

The views in this article are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the club.